REF AND SUBS 

A soccer team can choose to substitute a new player for one who has been playing at any point during a game. When the coach decides to make a substitution, he or she tells an official who hangs out near the team benches, and that official signals the referee. At the next dead ball (a stop in play that occurs when the ball goes out-of-bounds for a throw-in or goal-kick but not for a corner kick or a foul) the ref stops the game and allows the substitution to be made. There are two somewhat picky rules about this process. The substitute is supposed to wait at the side of the field at exactly the half-way line until the player who is being substituted for leaves the field completely. Refs are allowed to discipline (by giving yellow or red cards) players who violate these rules. 

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Soccer is often called the beautiful game because it consists of almost constant fluid motion by twenty two players; because of the way players seem to dance over the ball to fake each other out; because of the way the ball dips and swerves when shot with power. So why is it that so much of the scoring involved in the game happens when one player starts from a stand-still right in front of the goalie and takes an unobstructed shot? 

A penalty kick is an unobstructed shot on goal taken 12 yards from the center of the goal with only the goalie present to stop the shooter. It is awarded to the attacking team when they are fouled within the big rectangular area called the penalty box or the 18-yard box. Penalty kicks are often decisive moments in a soccer game because soccer is such a low scoring game and penalty kicks so frequently result in goals. In the World Cup, penalty kick competitions called shoot-outs are used to determine the winner of a game in the knock-out round if it is tied after two fifteen minute over-time periods. In a shoot-out the two teams alternate taking penalty kicks until one team has scored more than the other. It begins with a best-out-of-five-rounds competition and then if both teams have scored the same number after five penalty kicks each, it moves to a best-out-of-one-round format which continues only as long as both teams make or both teams miss their penalty kick. 

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Why Do People Like Soccer? 

There’s a lot said about soccer by people who don’t like it: it’s too low scoring, it’s too slow, it’s too liberal, people are diving constantly, etc. Supporters of soccer or football as it’s called in the rest of the world call it “the beautiful game” and flock to it in record numbers. As someone who will happily watch or participate in virtually any sport from water polo to olympic handball to Australian rules football1 I’m not particularly interested in advocating for one sport over another but I will list some of the reasons I think people like soccer. 

People Like Soccer Because it is Incredibly Hard to Score 

This may be counter-intuitive because one of the complaints of many people about soccer is that it’s too low scoring but I think it’s a feature not a defect. One of the primary reasons why people enjoy watching sports in general is to watch athletes do things that they themselves could not do. For that reason, the harder it is to score in a game, the more wonder scoring should create in its fans when it does happen. And it is hard to score in soccer — this is what an attacking player in soccer faces: 

• First they take away the most dexterous limbs at your disposal, your arms. No using your hands or arms. 
• Then they put a ball on the field that, if you kick it hard enough, bends and dips in all sorts of fairly unpredictable ways. 
• Controlling this ball without using your hands means that your top speed with the ball is way slower than a defender can run without the ball. 
• Finally, they allow one player, the guy who is there with the sole purpose of preventing you from scoring, to use his hands. 

People Like Soccer Because of the Buildup Before the Release 

One of the unexpected adjunct pleasures of watching a game where scoring is so rare is that by the time a team does score, it’s fans have built up an enormous store of pent up will, rage, and yearning that explodes into celebration to a degree unknown in higher scoring sports. According to Chris Anderson and David Sally of Slate Magazine the average number of goals in an English Premiere League soccer game is around 2.6. In a ninety minute game a team will usually score one or two goals. That’s a ton of time for fans root without having a celebratory release. Compare this to sports like tennis where the play rarely lasts 30 seconds or basketball where a team must shoot every 24 seconds and scores a little less than half the time it shoots. I can say that the goal the United States scored against Algeria after ninety scoreless minutes of a 2010 World Cup game that the U.S. needed to win was one of the most glorious sports moments of my life. 

There are two downsides to this characteristic of soccer that I would be remiss not to mention: one is that the despair of seeing the opposing team score is equally acute. The second is that, mostly in the past in Europe but still once in a while in other parts of the world, the extremity of emotion combined with a heady mixture of alcohol, antagonism unrelated to sport, and unwisely designed stadiums can lead to rioting. In 1989 in Sheffield, England 96 people were killed and another 700 plus were injured in a riot of this sort. Called the Hillsborough disaster, these deaths did lead to significant reform in England. 

People Like Soccer Because of its Teamwork and Fluid Play 

This is probably also related to the advantages that not being able to use your hands give defense has over offense but soccer teams play more as a team than almost any other sport. It’s not unusual for there to be a string of ten or even fifteen passes that lead up to a goal. There are absolutely star players but even they exist within a team frame-work. For every star striker (player who exists solely to score) there is a star playmaker whose greatness is seen most clearly in the passes he or she makes to teammates. If you watch a soccer match in person, try to sit farther up than you imagine is ideal. From there you will get a good view of how the twenty-two players on the field move in swoops and cycles. The play continues this way almost unimpeded for ninety minutes. As the patterns that players make (overlapping runs on the wing, forwards retreating to pick up a pass, etc.) make their way into your brain as tactics instead of the aimless wandering you first might perceive them as, you will come to appreciate them. 

Some Other Reasons People Like Soccer 

• More than other sports, national soccer teams have clearly defined historic styles that usually remain constant and which relate in some way to the national character (or at least are thought to.) The Brazilians dance with the ball like no one else and win, the Italians play rugged, dirty, defensive soccer and win, the British lose gallantly, the Germans play disciplined soccer and win a lot, and the Dutch play the most beautiful soccer in the world and lose consistently in the end. 
• There’s less difference between the men’s and women’s game than in most sports. Although I won’t often watch women’s basketball, I will watch the U.S. Women’s National team whenever it’s on. The rules of the game are almost identical and I get as much enjoyment from watching their games as I do the Men’s team. 

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TWO DIFFERENT PLAYERS 

I've played for a long time and I know what it takes to be successful. I have two examples of players that I've worked with in the past and in the present. 

As he aged, his passion and creativity matured with him. In his age group, he may be one of the most exciting players to watch on the ball and is completely unpredictable (in a great way) on the field. He never ceases to amaze in what he has the guts to try when he plays that no other player would even dare think about trying during a game. The way he moves on the ball and what he is capable of doing was not a product of my coaching. It was a product of him wanting to be the best. What many people do not know about this player is the amount of time he spent at home on his own just trying things with the soccer ball. Lifting, chipping, bending the ball all around the house and backyard, along with many other challenging skills, provides this player with a distinct advantage when he plays. He is capable of manipulating the ball in a way that other players cannot creating a number of options only available to him when he has the ball. 

Second example, I currently work with a player who always arrives early for training. When waiting for training to start, while other players are talking and hanging out, this player finds space to work with the ball. Either dribbling and changing direction, juggling, or anything else the player feels the need to work on, gets its needed attention before the organized training session even begins. 

During training, he never trains below a maximum effort and he can be someone tough on himself when mistakes are made. Although undeterred, he will quickly use disappointment as fuel to try again and work even harder. When the session stops, and I am talking to the players, he never cuts away from me with his eyes and often asks questions about the training. More often than not, I can count on him stopping me after training and asking specific questions about his performance and ideas on how he can work on skills on his own. 

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PARENTS AND PLAYER GOALS EXPECTATIONS 

In anything you do in life, you need to set some goals that you personally want to achieve and the goals you want to achieve for a bigger group. In order to attain certain goals, one needs to follow certain guidelines and meet a bunch of expectations. 

What do you want? As a parent, you are also a “client” of the soccer club or high school team  and it is important to have expectations of what you expect your child’s soccer experience to be like over the course of the year. Ideally, you would want to know if the club or coach meet those expectations before you commit to be on the team or part of the club, but that is not always possible. Although your expectations need to be realistic to your child’s playing level and age group, it is good to share those expectations with your coach or club director. If you are not sure about what to expect, you should look into what is known as “best practices” for coaching or teaching of players of your child’s age group and playing level. You can also just ask the coach. Sit down and discuss what you should expect throughout the year when it comes to your child’s playing experience. From a player's stand point, this is what I would want my parents to do for me. 

What does the coach expect? All coaches are different and if you get the best coaches in the world in a single room to discuss what should be done to develop players and run a team over a season, there will be plenty of disagreement. Like many things, no one way is absolutely correct or absolutely wrong. Most approaches are a blend of what is know to be the best approach to help players and a coach’s personal philosophy or approach. The key is the purpose behind expectations and what is being done. Is it for short-term or long-term goals, is it based on research or just “that’s how it was done when I played”, or is it coach focuses or player focused. These key distinctions make a big difference in terms of the experience being a positive one for the player. Again, two coaches who have a long-term developmental approach, based on best practices and is player focused will possibly have very different expectations and approaches to the season. Parents and players need to have a very good understanding of what the coach’s expectations will be.  Remember, the coaches are part of the to the player's success. 

What does the club expect? Clubs are as diverse as coaches, players, and parents. All clubs have different goals and missions for their teams in different age groups and levels of competition. It is important to be clear on the club’s expectations in terms of leagues, tournaments, amount of traveling, the amount of training, playing time, and overall approach to games and the player experience. Based on the size of the club, the goals of the club, and the club’s priorities for player experience, what you can expect as a parent or player over the course of the year can be very different. Again, this is not a debate about right or wrong. It is more about what is right for your child, budget, time commitment, and goals for playing soccer at your child’s age group and skill level. Club requires a lot of commitment, and make sure that you are willing to sacrifice a bunch of things before going and entering the club. 

The hardest thing to do is align expectations between people who have different expectations. Although, an open discussion about expectations can give both parties a good base to align their individual expectations with each other. When expectations go unestablished, it leaves a lot of room for assumptions which usually leads to a season full of issues and misunderstandings. Although we all might not agree, it is much easier to have a mutual respect for one another’s opinions and actions when expectations are clearly outlines from the start of the season. By knowing where everyone stands, it is much easier to find common ground. Most importantly, by this type of collaborative approach, it is more likely the child playing the game will have a positive experience through the season which you expected. 

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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IS BACK 

PARIS SAINT GERMAIN VS. CHELSEA FC 

The French giants are going to be facing the blues from North London in the Uefa Champions League (UCL) round of sixteen. The two soccer giants faced each other in the previous UCL tournament of 2014/2015 were the French giants came out with the win. Paris Saint Germain (PSG) now in the top of the French league are coming into the game with full hopes. All of the PSG starters such as Lavezzi, Zalatan Ibrahimovic, and Angel D. Maria are in top form right now. The Blues, 2015 Barclays Premier League (BPL) champions started the 2015/2016 BPL season poor by being in the bottom half of the table and was also in the zone of relegation. With bad injuries in the likes of Court Zouma, who tore his ACL and broke his knee  backwards, the Chelsea players were finding it hard to win well needed games. The lost of their coach, Jose Mourinho, brought a lot of confusion between the players, team managers and the club's organization. On the other hand, the blues also made good signings during the January transfer window, and good players such as Diego Costa renewing their contract. These players brought back life to the club and went on to be undefeated for 10 games in a row both home and away. The team is on the top half of the BPL table and going into the UCL game against PSG with high hopes. It is going to be a great game because both teams expect to win, and they are not laying back for the opponent to go down their throats all game long. I predict that Chelsea is going to win a 2-1 upset over PSG goals by Willian (Chelsea Player) in the 36th minute, Angel D. Maria (PSG player) with an equalizer in the 72nd minute, and DIego Costa with the winning goal during stoppage time.  339
 

TOUCHES ON THE BALL

It is not always easy to play soccer in all sorts of condition so one needs to try and adapt to all the conditions. Having a good first touch on the ball is very important, and it is one of the hardest techniques to master. You can do some tip toe taps, foundations, and all sorts of drills to work on your touch. play with a partner or use a wall as your partner to play. The better your touch on the ball gets to better all around player you become.
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GOAL GOAL GOAL 

What is the only thing that makes the game of football very interesting and overwhelming? What makes the game so irresistible that people want to forget about all their doubts and worries and go for watching the game either on TV or to the ground? Of course it is the goal that is scored in the matches being played. It is the goal which can change the whole complexion of the game. A goal can bring joy or sorrow to a spectator in an instant and therefore it acts as the turning point of the football match. 

 Last Minute Goal 

When a goal in scored in the dying seconds of the match, it is known as the last minute goal. Very often it changes the whole complexion of the game when a team scoring the penultimate goal. The importance of the last minute goal lies in the fact that the team scoring the goal may lead to equalize the scores in the match. It may also be such that the team scoring the last minute goal can win the match (in the injury time of the game). 

It is the coach who becomes the happiest to see his team score the winning goal in the dying seconds of the match. 

 First half goals 

The teams who score the goals in the first half of the game, ends the first 45 minutes with confidence because of their scoring. This gives them the confidence to do well in the second half. Also in a match, there may be many goals in the first half itself. In that case, the team scoring the last goal (in the half) seems to go inside the dressing room with slightly more confidence. But an equal number of goals in the first half makes the game interesting and suspense moves over the whole stadium keeping the spectators in awe (as they think about the upcoming result). 

This is the reason that the coach of every team ask their players to try their best in trying to score first half goals. It also gives the coach as respite from planning a different strategy for the match 

 Goal Difference 

This concept in the game of football is important in the context of the game. Usually in several competitions, there are two rounds of a match being played by the two teams (each team plays a home match). The importance of goal difference lies in the fact that the team having the most number of goals, qualifies to the next round of the competition. Therefore the teams don't take it lightly. 

 It is the goals which gives a direction to the game and sets up challenges for both the players and the coach. After the team concedes a goal, the coach is often seen taking a second strategy (which every coach usually plans for every game). The football match which ends in a goalless draw is not seen well by the spectators as they come to the stadium expecting a goal. 

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TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL 

 

During the 14 years I have been playing soccer, I have seen and played both with and against many great players developing and observed the qualities that are necessary to excel at the beautiful game of soccer. Many young soccer players are happy just to show up and play simply for the love of the game, which is fantastic. However, this blog is for those athletes who dream of taking their game to the next level and for the player who want to become the complete soccer athlete.  

All of my coaches always say that their "primary focus in coaching soccer at the youth level has always been Technique, technique, technique." A strong player needs to be technically skilled with both feet, and be able to apply those skills appropriately on the field. Good ball control and the ability to read the play are essential. To be a well rounded player, you also need to be fit, athletic, fast, and mentally focused.  

Technique is something that can be coached, and something that coaches have become very proficient at coaching over the years. Fitness and physical conditioning are other aspects that a coach or trainer can develop in their players by implementing regimented athletic conditioning programs. But there are other important qualities that must be developed in order to become the best soccer player you can be. Some of these qualities a coach has less influence over.  

Qualities such as maturity, independence, mental toughness, creativity, and what I call that certain "X-Factor" (or WOW Factor) can be encouraged and modeled by a good coach, but these are characteristics that a player will need to develop on their own. Incidentally, this is the sort of personal development that will not only make you more successful at the beautiful game of soccer, but also more successful at life in general.  

A player should view their sport not only as competition but also as entertainment, and should therefore learn to be creative and add another dimensions to their game. Put yourself in the position of a fan or a spectator. Would you pay to watch a boring game? I don’t think so. The game is about entertainment. People want to see a quality game with great athletes, plenty of creativity, and exciting goals! When a talented player can enter the field of play and change the chemistry of the game in such a way that makes the crowd go crazy, that’s what I call the X-Factor. This player is unique, creative, skillful, and passionate about the sport. These are the qualities that make us remember a player, and this is part of what makes a "star" stand out from the rest. Every player has some unique individual talent and the quicker yo find the talent and put it into practice the better for you as a player, and in the eyes of recruiting coaches. 

Here are some of my recommendations for those who want to take it to the next level, and dream of being a pro: Be a student of the game. Take a personal interest in learning everything you can. Eat right, stay fit, train smart, and adopt a positive attitude. Be unique and creative. Develop your own personal style and make a difference on the field! Become a master of technique. Try to be the best in your position. Being talented is great, but you must also be a team player! A superstar is of no use if they can’t work with the team. To be a pro, you have to eat, sleep and breathe soccer! Remember to have a strong work ethic when you train, and perform your drills with intensity. Don't worry about mistakes. Even the pros make mistakes.  

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